Gerald Baldwin is an American businessman. He and two other entrepreneurs, Gordon Bowker and Zev Siegl, founded Starbucks in Seattle, in 1971. He is a

Sonoma Valley Sonoma Valley is a valley located in southeastern Sonoma County, California, in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Known as the birthplace of the California wine industry, the valley is home to some of the earliest vineyards a ...

vintner A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to dete ...

, and co-founder of J. Baldwin Wines.

Career

Jerry Baldwin learned the

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

trade from Alfred Peet, whose store Peet's Coffee And Tea, was the inspiration for Starbucks. Starbucks purchased roasted coffee beans from Peet's during its first year of operation. Baldwin has recalled Peet as being a "very generous" mentor. In 1984, when Peet's was offered for sale, Baldwin led a group of investors, including Bowker, to purchase the company. In 1987, he sold his interests in Starbucks. Baldwin was chairman of Peet's until 2001 when Peet's went public, and he became a director of the company. Baldwin served as director and founding chairman of the Technical Standards Committee of the

Specialty Coffee Association of America The Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), founded in 1982, was a non-profit trade organization for the specialty coffee industry. With members located in more than 40 countries, SCAA represented different segments of the specialty coffee ...

; president of Association Scientifique International du Cafe (ASIC); and chairman of the Coffee Quality Institute. He was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by

. He is a director of TechnoServe, an NGO working in Latin America and Africa. In 2000, he and his wife,

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

Jane Baldwin, established J. Baldwin Wines, a zinfandel and

petite sirah Durif is a variety of red wine grape primarily grown in Australia, California, France, and Israel. Since the end of the 20th century, wineries located in Washington's Yakima River Valley, Maryland, Arizona, Texas, West Virginia, Chile, Mexico ...

grower and producer located in Sonoma Valley, California. Jerry Baldwin's net worth was estimated to be $2.4 billion in 2018.Jerry Baldwin Net Worth
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baldwin, Jerry Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Starbucks people Businesspeople in coffee Businesspeople from San Francisco University of San Francisco alumni American winemakers American food company founders American chairpersons of corporations Directors of Starbucks